Following regular reviews and consultation with our Patents Technical Focus Group, we have updated the following section of our Patents Examination Manual.
Regulation 82: Parent and divisional claims “for substantially the same matter”
We have made substantial changes to this section of the examination manual, which was previously titled “Regulation 82: Claims overlap between parent & divisional applications”.
These changes clarify our examination practice when considering parent and divisional claim sets. The main substantive change is to clarify that this regulation applies to the scope of the respective claims. This is set out in more detail within the updated guideline.
These changes follow from the previous changes to this section made in September 2021.
View our updated section on Regulation 82: Parent and divisional claims “for substantially the same matter”: